Those Crystal Eyes
by MySweetObsession
Summary: The infamous trio are attending their 6th year at Hogwarts, and Harry begins to have nightmares about a mysterious girl. Suddenly deaths begin to occur, and it's only a matter of time before they are next.
1. It Begins

**DISCLAIMER: I do not, NOT, own any of the Harry Potter characters, except for the added one named 'Karine'...rated PG-13 just to be safe! Now on with our story! Bwah ha ha ha!**

Rain began to flood empty streets and alleys, and the light of the moon shone in the dark of night. The wind blew strong as trees flowed flawlessly to its rhythm, calmly swaying in every direction. Nonetheless, the occupants of Privet Drive slept peacefully-fully unaware that it had started to downpour on their beautiful neighborhood. After all, it had been clear and sunlit earler that day.  
  
A teenage boy stirred in his sleep, switching his position in his bed uncomfortably. He felt himself fading away within his nightmare-loosing control of all the humane and cheerful thoughts that he had known. He was lost inside himself and his fears...and only hoped that any minute he would awake, and the mixed emotions would finally be gone. But right now all he could do was wait until it was over.  
  
He was running down a hallway, following his two best friends that seemed extremely far ahead of him. He had called for them countless times by now to wait-but they didn't acknoweledge him. Instead they tore down another hall. He ran faster, turning to hurry after them...but they were no longer there. Instead he was now chasing a mysterious girl.   
  
Suddenly he yelled for her as if he'd known her. Surprisingly she stopped and waited-but she didn't turn around.  
  
He was confused by this somehow, but hurried to her before she ran off again. As he caught up with her, he paused behind her to catch his breath. After regaining himself he waited for her to turn to face him. She didn't budge or answer when he had greeted her, so he reached up and poked her in the shoulder gently a few times. Finally she turned around, and at once he had wished she didn't.  
  
It was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. As soon as he looked into her dark crystal eyes, he became mesmerized as if she had him in a trance. Suddenly, flashing images of lifeless bodies took over him. First there was a small girl with flaming red hair; she lay on a stone cold floor as trickles of blood traced down her cheek. He turned away and back, now facing a boy with the same ginger hair, only he was a little older and taller. His eyes were open and the pupils were gone-his face showed no emotion. Then it flashed again to a girl with bushy chestnut hair who was curled up as her pale face stared up at him: she too, was dead.   
  
That was how it continued, showing more and more of his friends and loved ones flash before his eyes, all lifeless. And when he was brought back to the girl with those crystal eyes, all she did was laugh before she dissapeared.  
  
Finally he was awaken from the loud barging in of his large and extremely overweight uncle, who suddenly turned the colour of a plum.  
  
"Harry Potter, you get that ruddy bird of yours out of our kitchen at once or I will do away with it myself!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, not hesitating the least to send spit flying Harry's way. Uncle Vernon then huffed out, slamming the door firmly behind.   
  
Harry sighed angrily as he lifted his legs over the end of his small bed. He was not a normal boy, as most know, and the way he saw it-that didn't really matter. After fifteen years of being the center of attention in every wizard's conversation, Harry didn't really care anymore. He'd much father be an unheard wizard and have people ignore him instead of murmur about him all of the time. Though it was no offense towards one of his best mates, he'd much rather be like Ron Weasley, who had exactly 10 brothers and 1 sister, dad, and mum. He adored absolutely everything about Ron's family-their lopsided home at the Burrow, his father's fascination with Muggles, and the way his family always made you feel at home. It was what he looked foward to after every finished year at Hogwarts.  
  
He had sent Ron owls many times now after he had invited him to stay at the Burrow, saying that he would gladly come. Every day for the past 2 months he waited for an owl back, but nothing came. And Harry was starting to get worried; very worried. It was not like Ron to take this long to reply to a letter. This had made Harry think of all the possible things that could have happened, and most were not pleasant. But he assured himself that it was nothing, and went on with the day, which included ignoring the Dursleys and finishing up homework for the start of term. Which, by the way, he had not even got started on.  
  
But today, Harry could do nothing but think about his dream as he replayed it in his mind repetitively. He had unnacountable delusions before, but this one was different. How could he picture his friends in a state of matter like that? Why would he? Those were a couple of the questions he couldn't help but want answered as he headed down the steps to another day of torment.  
  
He couldn't help but laugh as he watched his owl Hedwig fluttering around in circles at his Aunt Petunia and cousing Dudley. Petunia was yelling fearfully at him to get Hedwig away from them. He regained his composure and held out his arm to his owl. She hooted happily and rested her feet on his arm, and he carried her back up into her cage.   
  
"One of these days, boy...that bird will be out of here!" Aunt Petunia snapped, pursing her lips in a frustrated manner. "Dudders, dear, would you get the post?"   
  
Dudley shifted his weight to the other side of the armchair he plopped himself into, and grunted. He shoved a cookie into his mouth and kept his eyes on the television, watching a bananna dance around in a commercial advertising fruits. He whined at his mother when she asked him this, and right away she turned to Harry, shooting him a stern glare.  
  
"Well go on," she said heatedly, "get our mail!" Harry just ignored her, but walked to the door and picked up a small pile of letters that were laying before it. He looked at them all, and spotted 2 of them were addressed under his name. He quickly hid them in his back pocket before walking back into the living room to hand them to his aunt, who snatched them out of his hands nastily and rummaged through them.  
  
"Goodness, Vernon, every one of these letters are bills! Oh, and here's a postcard from Jillian..." Harry heard her say as he rushed back up the stairs and to his room. He shut the door behind him and jumped onto his bed and set the two letters in front of him. One was the usual letter from Hogwarts and, finally, a letter from Ron. He picked up Ron's letter first [which was extremely hefty than usual], ripping open the top of the envelope. He pulled out a peice of parchment and an old shoe as began to read:  
  
Harry,  
  
Jeez, sorry about not answering your letters, mate. Just been busy with many things and my family, of course. I was gonna write you last week before Fred and George barged into my room and told me [actually yelled loudly] that we were going to Romania to visit Charlie! ...And I never got back to writing you. But man do I have loads to tell you! How we got enough money to go there is beyond me...I'm guessing it had something to do with Fred and George, considering their booming business with the joke shop.  
  
Charlie showed us the new dragons that were sent in. And we even saw Norbert! Whoa, he was huge. And he didn't even remember me [I could tell when he tried to bite my arm off]. At least Hagrid'll be happy to know that his 'Norbie' is in a safe place, especially with Charlie. I know he'll take good care of him.  
  
About you coming to the Burrow-of course! Did you get the shoe? Yeah, sorry it smells, it's George's-not mine. That's a portkey, so when you're done packing and everything be sure to touch that with both hands and hopefully you'll be here with us in a few seconds! Don't worry, it's supposed to make you feel sick-happens to me all of the time. Hope you get here soon-Ginny hasn't left me alone since I sent this bloody letter.  
  
Yours,  
  
Ron  
  
Harry smiled to himself and put the letter back into the envelope, placing it on his desk. He opened his closet door and rolled out his trunk, which had been packed with his things for weeks. He'd expected Ron's letter earlier, but now that he knew what happened, he understood. He pulled on clean clothes, considering he wouldn't want to appear in the Weasley's home with his striped pajamas on. After brushing his teeth...and attempting to do the same to his hair...he grabbed the shoe with one hand, holding it as far out as he could. Ron was right, it did smell.  
  
He didn't even bother calling down to the Dursleys and letting them know he was going-they would figure it out eventually when they noticed he wasn't in his bed the next morning. They hardly ever cared to take the time to look at him anyhow. He settled his trunk next to him, backed away from his bed, and slowly placed his other hand on the shoe. Immediately he felt a strange sensation throughout his body. It was like he was being twisted apart, and his stomach lurched. He felt like he was going to be sick. He hated portkeys.  
  
After what seemed like countless hours of spinning in a dark atmosphere, he was immediately standing in Ron's bedroom, who was snoring away. He decided not to wake him yet, and so he opened up his trunk and put the letter he had recieved from Ron inside before shutting it again. Ron's flaming red hair was sticking out in all directions, and he had all of the blankets tucked tightly into him like he was some sort of tortilla. Harry found this hilarious, and he grabbed the shoe Ron had sent him and tossed it at his head. Right away Ron shot up from his bed, a hand on his forehead.  
  
"Blimey, George, can't you just let me sleep once without pummeling me with your smelly shoes?" Ron mumbled as he opened his eyes to see Harry laughing histarically at his expense. Ron brought a smile to his face and jumped out of his bed.  
  
"I was at least expecting you to come at a decent hour. How are you, mate?" Ron said excitedly as he shook Harry's hand before picking up his trunk, practically throwing it on his unkept bed. Harry had suddenly realized that it wasn't like him to come so early, but he figured it was worth getting away from Privet Drive. Ron laughed when Harry mentioned the fact that he never told the Dursleys he was leaving. They gradually drew themselves into a long discussion about the upcoming Quidditch season at Hogwarts when they heard a loud calling come from downstairs.  
  
"Ron! Come down here this instant!" Mrs. Weasley screeched at the foot of the steps. Ron's ears went pink as he and Harry left his room, and down to meet with his obviously furious mother. Ron couldn't recall being in trouble, and hoped that Fred and George hadn't pulled something as they walked down the stairs.


	2. Twinkle Toes and Heart Stoppers

The Weasleys were suprised to find Harry following behind Ron down the steps, but greeted him anyway. Harry was grateful that he was at the Burrow, instead of stuck up in his room at the Dursleys' home on Privet Drive. Mr. Weasley had begun to bombard him with questions about certain muggle items, such as the 'computer' and other technologic things, and Fred and George had already started to pester Harry into trying out their newest product, Twinkle Toes.  
  
"Come on, Harry, we need to test it out!" George had protested, waving a small candy in front of Harry's face, who waved it away. He couldn't help but distrust them when they had broke out into boils after trying out one of their own inventions. It was hilarious to watch, but could see how much pain they were in. No wonder they gave up on themselves and decided to torture others with their 'pointless hobbies' as Hermione would put it.  
  
"Ron!" Fred immediately called for their little brother, who was now searching through the refridgerator. He came bustling out with handfuls of food ranging from pastries to apples. He dropped them all at once as George showed him the candy, gawking at it.  
  
"A-Are you gonna eat that?!" Ron asked absently, staring at what was in George's hand. Fred smirked and shook his head, glancing at Harry.  
  
"Of course not, my little brother. Take it!" George said smoothly, as Ron snatched the candy out of his hand. He unwrapped it with quick fingers, and threw the plastic paper on the floor as he shoved it in his mouth like it was the last ounce of food he would eat for a month. He arched his eyebrow suspiciously as he watched the twins burst into tears. They were laughing so hard that they had nearly fell over on the floor.  
  
"What's so funny?" Ron said, oblivious. Fred was clutching his sides as George wiped a tear from his eye. Suddenly Ron felt numbness in from his knees down to his feet, and his eyes grew wide as they stopped at his twin brothers.   
  
Instantaneously, his feet began to jiggle and he felt himself begin to move around the living room. He watched as Fred and George cackled continuously as Harry watched it all happen, slightly amused. Ron was dancing around like a hand puppet-his legs moving all over the place and his arms were flapping at his sides. Ron looked like he was going to kill his brothers for letting them eat that candy. But inwardly he was about to smack himself in the head for being an idiot to actually take something given to him by the twins. He was finally relieved when he regained the feeling in his feet.  
  
"Bloody hell, George-it worked!" Fred grinned as he hi-fived his twin, who felt quite proud of himself. Just then Mrs. Weasley came from the hallway with a steely glare at them. Fred had immediately regretted what he said, and his once pleased face formed into a frown. Now it was Ron's turn to laugh.  
  
"Fredrick Weasley, you march your tush up to your room! I want you to think about what you've said." She snapped, waving her arm towards the staircase, not releasing her glare from him. Fred just stood still, as if his feet were being pinned to the ground.  
  
"What are you waiting for? An apocalypse? SHOO!" and with that she shoved him up the stairs gently. Fred drooped his head as he walked slugishly into the farthest room from the stairs, slamming the door behind him. Mrs. Weasley came to herself as she forced a smile on her face as she looked at them all. Ron cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  
  
"Mum...what exactly did you want me for?" Ron asked her, and she shrugged and headed for the kitchen.  
  
"Well I just wanted you to come down for breakfast!" She replied, not looking back at him, who was now relaxed. Ron turned to Harry who was trying to hide his smile of amusement but Ron could tell that he was still finding humor in his uncontrollable dancing. Ron just ignored this as he sat himself down at the dining table.  
  
After a few minutes Ginny appeared from the kitchen carrying a pile of plates, and she set down one in front of each person. She blushed rather quickly when she stopped by Harry's chair and gave a small squeak before plopping a plate in front of him. Harry had smiled at this, because he knew that Ginny fancied him-as Ron had said-and never left him alone about Harry. It felt it nice to have an admirer...  
  
Mrs. Weasley walked through to the dining room with a pan full of eggs. She scraped an even amount onto everyone's plates, before returning to the kitchen to retrieve her batch of bacon, doing the same. As soon as she had given the last peices to her husband, Arthur Weasley, she sat beside him and settled herself before allowing the children to eat. Ron wasted no time in being clean and polite, but instead dug his fork into the eggs and shoved it in his mouth. He chewed fast, swallowed, and went in again for a second fork-full. Everyone else seemed to take an interest in watching him eat, but eventually concentrated on their own plates. No one talked during breakfast, for they were all enjoying their bacon and eggs.  
  
When the family and Harry had finally finished up they thanked Mrs. Weasley and departed from the table, leaving both her and Ginny to deal with the mess of dirty dishes and such. Mrs. Weasley had George take up a saved plate of food for Fred, who was still stuck in his room for the remainder of the morning. Ron had brought Harry to his room to play a game of Wizard's Chess (obviously planning to win) and moved the trunk from his bed to set up the chessboard. Harry looked all around Ron's room-nothing had changed since the day he had come here when he was 12; there were still large Chudley Cannons posters plastered on the walls, and his bed sheets were still orange to match. He wondered if Ron would ever get out of his childish phase and finally become 15. Then he turned to Ron who was carefully placing each pawn into the proper place: Nope.   
  
He looked at Ron's night-table and noticed an unopened envelope. He picked it up and threw it at Ron, who muttered angrily as the pawns shifted off of the board. Then his face relaxed as he opened the letter thrown to him by Harry. His eyes jolsted down the parchment, and he folded it back up within a few minutes and placed it back in its rightful envelope. He eventually continued with his 'careful task' and he said something to Harry without even looking up once.  
  
"It's from Hermione." he said, and assured Harry it was ok for him to read it as well. Harry took the letter out of the ripped envelope, and unfolded it. He began to read Hermione's neat handwriting that ran down the page.  
  
_ Dear Ron,  
I assume that you have sent a letter to Harry about spending the last week of summer with you? I would never forgive you if you haven't...he needs to get away from those awful Dursleys. But that is not what I am writing about-I've been hearing these strange rumors lately...they've got me worried. I'm sure you don't take the time to read the Daily Prophet, otherwise you would have written me before. I've attatched the article to this letter, so you can read it as well-I urge you to.  
  
Sincerely Yours,  
Hermione  
_  
Harry took the clipping off of the letter; it was slightly crumpled and had marking all over it. He flattened the paper so it was readable, and started to read it:  
  
**_::MYSTERIOUS KILLER RAMPAGE HITS LONDON::_  
**  
**Earlier this morning, Ministry Investigators stumbled up what seemed like two decapitated bodies strangled in the bushes south of Little Whigham last night. After being taken to the Ministry for Medi-Witches to determine the cause of their deaths, they discovered two peirce marks on the sides of each of their necks. It was clearly made noted that the two victims suffered from a Vampire attack, making the statement known that there is now a loose Vampire running around during the night to murder. 'We have now set out dementors once again to be on the look out for this killer,' Cornelius Fudge announced to reporters this afternoon, 'there's no possible way that anyone could get through them without being cleared of all signs of being this mass-murderer.'   
Meanwhile, in the life of the Boy-Who-Lived...  
**  
This was something that Harry didn't care to hear. Vampires had no connection to him whatsoever. At least there wasn't any news on Sirius's death. He shuddered at the newly found thought that the last true connection to his parents was gone. No more recieving letters from a different owl every other week-he wouldn't even be able to go live with Sirius like he had wished to. He tried to ignore this as he watched Ron reset up all of the pawns that had recently been knocked over.  
  
"Ron, did you even read the article Hermione sent?" Harry asked him, holding it out in his hand. Ron looked up at it and then back to his chessboard, checking to make sure everything looked perfect.   
  
"Huh? Oh, no..." Ron muttered as he carefully backed away from the complete board, "there! Want to play, Harry?" He watched as Harry said nothing, but handed him the article about Vampires. Ron began to read the title, and his expression was the same as it had been earlier-preoccupied. Of course Ron didn't care about Vampires, at least they weren't coming to attack him in the middle of the night. He was safe with his family at the Burrow, and Harry was here...so he couldn't be harmed...  
  
"Well then," Ron said quietly, trying to figure out what to say, "why don't we play a game of Wizard's Chess?" Harry, not knowing what else to possibly do, nodded and sat across from Ron on his bed.  
  
The game was rather quick, as Ron had easily got rid of all of Harry's small pawns and both bishops within a matter of minutes. Harry honestly didn't seem to mind, for he was thinking about other things like Sirius's body and Voldemort...he still couldn't figure out how he could return so quickly, if he did at all. But like earlier feelings, he concentrated more on the chessboard in front of him, though he knew he was at loss anyhow. He watched as Ron's King took out his last Knight, and the game was finally over. He then looked up at Ron, who was feeling rather proud of himself. After his 2 second boasting escapade, Ron realized how childish he was acting and asked Harry for another go. Harry waved it off, saying that he wanted to finish the homework he could never start.  
  
============================================================  
  
Over the next few days, the Weasley children and Harry had begun to get themselves ready for the departure on the train to Hogwarts. The family had done their shopping at Diagon Alley; Fred and George could not help but force everyone to take a look at their new joke shop. Mrs. Weasley was still not pleased that they had flown out of the school last year, and also oblivious as to whom would be foolish enough to give her two sons enough money to start their shop. But she was proud of both of them nonetheless, and was surprised at how much the twins had gotten done in only a few months.  
  
Their shop was a bit small, but it was full of many products of theirs-including the Twinkle Toes candy that Ron had been tricked into eating before. Harry was surprised to see the invention that made the twins break out into boils as the #1 seller. They had said that they were able to fix all of the little bugs within their formula, so instead of breaking out into boils all over, they would get severe acne on their face. That made Harry picture Draco and his gang with pimples-and this made him laugh. Boy, did they deserve that, Harry thought.   
  
After purchasing all of their needed school items, they headed back to the Burrow where all of the children were packing for the next day, which was when they would be leaving for the Hogwarts Express. It was fairly easy for Harry, since he had already packed his textbooks and robes and had his broom set aside his trunk. All he needed to do was find a spot in for his new books. Ron, on the other hand, had to fold up his robes and extra clothes and put them inside along with his textbooks, and also put Pig in his cage and get his broom from the cupboard. Other than those things, both of them were more than ready for the coming morning.  
  
Ginny came running into Ron's room and opened the door timidly to see Harry recovering from yet another stunning victory to Ron. She looked as if she were going to die of embarrasment, from who knows what. When she finally got Ron's attention by saying that Hermione was at the door, she told him afterward that Mrs. Weasley wanted them to come down for dinner. Harry laughed as Ron looked rather dissapointed at this, and followed Ginny down the stairs. He turned around to see Harry grinning wickedly; it was his turn to torment Ron for those beatings on the chessboard.  
  
Mrs. Weasley eventually served the family up some dinner and everyone scarfed it all down rather hastily, Ron being the first to finish. Instead of letting everyone leave their dishes at the table, Mrs. Weasley insisted that they all be kind enough to put them into the sink. The children quickly tossed their dishes into the sink, and then into the living room where Fred and George began to ask each of them to try another new creation of theirs, Heart Stoppers. At the mention of the name Ginny retreated to her room and left Harry and Ron alone with the twins...which wasn't always a good thing.  
  
"Heart Stoppers!" Fred said gleefully, "The newest invention in the line of Weasley Products!" Ron looked at them as if he had know idea who they were. Harry was suddenly curious about the new product, and why it was named a 'Heart Stopper'.  
  
"What exactly do these Heart Stoppers do? They don't kill you or anything do they?" he asked. Fred and George Weasley were surprised that either of them had cared about this, for earlier it had no appeal to them at all.  
  
"Funny you should ask that, Harry. Heart Stoppers do not 'kill' you, they merely..."  
  
"Rid you of all caring and loving bones in your body for a short amount of time." Fred finished. George nodded and continued.  
  
"The person becomes cruel and unordinarily mean amongst people...that's why it-"  
  
"Only lasts for a short period of time." Fred smiled wickedly at them. Ron sighed, relieved that it wasn't going to make someone drop dead out of the blue or anything. He waved the item away as Fred and George flashed tons of them in his face. He wasn't going to fall for that one anymore.   
  
Suddenly Mrs. Weasley burst in, shooing them all upstairs to bed, for it had quickly become 9 o'clock. They wasted no time in obeying, all of the Weasley children knew how their mother could get if they didn't listen. She made sure that each of them were under their covers and had closed eyes before she shut the door to each of their rooms. None of them snuck out of bed after she left, for they knew that tomorrow was going to be a busy-and long-day. So each of them thought it best to get some rest, since they were going to wake up early the next morning.


	3. The Hogwarts Express

"Up everyone, up! Don't want to miss the train, come on!" Came the loud screeches from Mrs. Weasley as she nearly knocked Ron out of his bed. He cursed his mother quietly, and threw his covers off of him in a hasty manner. Harry just stared up at the ceiling as he blinked a few times so his eyes would adjust. Then he put his glasses on the brim of his nose and wriggled out of his sleeping bag. Neither of them really wanted to get up, but they had to. If they didn't, Hermione would be anxiously wondering where in the world could they be. And both of them knew that you didn't want to be in the presence of a worried Hermione.  
  
Mrs. Weasley had fixed her family a rather quick breakfast which included in some toast and orange juice, since she had realized that they were already 10 minutes behind schedule. She practically made everyone shove their food into their mouths so she could hurry them upstairs for their things after they had clothed themselves. The children returned downstairs one by one, and she filed them off into the car that Mr. Weasley had purchased almost 4 years ago after Ron had purposly droven the old one to Hogwarts, running it into the rumpous Whomping Willow when he was twelve.   
  
The family bade their farewells to Fred and George who were already up and about to head towards Diagon Alley to their new shop. Mrs. Weasley threatened them with a grounding if she found anything was missing or destroyed when she and her husband returned. They just smiled and waved them off as Mr. Weasley pulled the car out of the gravel driveway and flew it into the air.   
  
The ride was quite short, for flying was much faster than driving. Mr. Weasley brought the car down from the air when they reached King's Cross Station, just for the assurance that no muggles would find them hovering in the sky. He parked the car and 2 Weasley children left to attend Hogwarts and Harry piled out of the car as Mrs. Weasley rushed them into the station. Mr. Weasley followed with everyone's things, after Harry offered to help countless times. He was somewhat behind the rest of them, but still kept up as best he could. Finally they had reached the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.  
  
"Ginny, why don't you go first? Arthur, give her her trunk," Mrs. Weasley ushered as her husband pushed Ginny's cart to her. She tightened her grip on the handle, steadied herself, and burst into a run to the brick wall, vanishing before she made contact. Mrs. Weasley turned to Ron, who had already taken his things from his father. He nodded as he already knew what to do, and he too bolted towards the wall. He disappeared in an instant. Harry followed closely behind, and was now standing in front of the Hogwarts Express, which looked as grand as ever.   
  
After a moment Mr. and Mrs. Weasley appeared in the station, and rushed to find Ginny, who argued that she was more than old enough to get herself onto a train. Before she stormed off, she gave them each a hasty hug and kiss. Ron was then pummled by his mother as he was being planted with kisses on the cheek. Harry gave Mr. Weasley a quick handshake and a small hug to Mrs. Weasley, who shooed them off to the train before they missed it.  
  
Harry and Ron left their trunks next to the large pile of other students' belongings, and they got onto the train. They walked down the aisle searching for an empty compartment, or one that Hermione was saving for them. And as they had expected, Harry and Ron were happy to see a very familiar head of bushy chestnut hair curled up with a book inside of a cubicle. She didn't notice them enter and she continued to flip the pages of her book, not looking up once at them. Harry made a slight cough to catch her attention, and immediately her eyes shot up at both of them, a warm smile forming across her mouth.  
  
"Well it's about time, you two!" she said blissfully, "I've had to run out 3 First Years from sitting here..." She laughed slightly at the way she had put her last remark. She closed her book, making sure to mark her spot, and placed it inside her bookbag.   
  
"How were your summers? I expect you went to Ron's, Harry?" she turned to Harry, who nodded. Then both he and Ron went into a long story about Wizard's Chess, and then Harry started to tell Hermione about Ron's dancing rendevous.   
  
"I don't see how he could have trusted them...but he just scarfed it down, then after a few mintutes he started dancing like crazy! It was hilarious," Harry had said, his hands waving around all over the place to mimic Ron's actions. Ron, on the other hand, scoffed at this and turned a soft shade of pink.  
  
"It wasn't my fault-I was mad hungry!" he retorted, and Hermione snorted in amusement.  
  
"Only you would fall for something so stupid...especially if it involves food. Honestly Ron," she headed for her bag again, "I'm surprised that you haven't grown out instead of up with all of the food you've put into your mouth." She pulled out a book, followed by a peice of parchment and a quill.   
  
"I'm surprised that you didn't do your assignments over the summer!" Ron said hotly, as she looked up at him with a stern glare. The reminder of homeowork from the summer made Harry practically dive for his schoolbag and take out at least 2 different books. By now he had completely forgotten that Ron and Hermione had started in a row.  
  
"This isn't homework, Ron, I'm writing a letter..." she replied, her quill moving across the page as she scribbled things down. Occasionally she'd stop and ponder as she gently touched the quill feather to her chin, and then would continue. Ron peered over from across the other seat and looked down closely at her paper, not even giving her room to write.  
  
"So who's it to? The letter, I mean." He said, and she pushed his head away from her parchment. She dipped her quill in her small ink bottle, closed it, and wrote more.   
  
"To my parents," she noted, not even looking up at him, "They deserve to know that I've made it on the train safely." Ron gawked at her, as if she were some sort of a loony.  
  
"They were the ones that took you to the train station! Why do they need to know you've gotten on the train if they saw you?!" he wanted to know. Hermione rolled her eyes at this and folded the paper she would eventually send off to her parents, placing it-along with her quill and ink bottle-within her bag once more.  
  
"Because they're my parents!" she snapped.  
  
Ron and Hermione did not talk the rest of the train ride there, but when Harry had finished his homework he had forced them to converse. It was their usual routine; Ron would say something and Hermione would snap back-causing another argument, and then Harry would just chime in at the right moment to get them talking again. Then again, sometimes Harry would just site back and watch it all happen with slight amusement. It always seemed funny to watch the two of them argue, but after a while, Harry began to dose off, tired from not recieving enough rest the previous night.  
  
He held her in his arms, there was nothing he could do anymore...he watched as she bled into his shirt, here empty eyes gazing up at him. He moved her chestnut strands out of her face and suddenly gasped. There were two peirce marks on the side of her neck-she had been bitten. There were dry spots of crimson where she was bleeding there before. He couldn't take it anymore.  
  
He wanted to get out of there, as far as he could go. The guilt inside of him was yearning to escape, and the feeling of loss had once again crept over him. He had to get away from her body...  
  
It was to hard to see someone else so much dead.  
  
"Harry? Harry!" someone was shaking him awake. Harry shot up immediately to find Hermione and Ron kneeling over him with worried faces. He wiped the sweat from his brow and quickly furrowed them together in confusion. He didn't really understand what he had just seen, and nor did he want to.  
  
"Goodness, Harry...you scared me half to death!" Hermione was almost at the point of bursting into tears from fright. Ron was breathing hard as he tried to comfort Hermione who seemed to shocked to say anymore. Harry put a hand to his forehead as he looked up at both of them. He glanced out the window to find that it was pitch black, which meant that they were almost at the train platform.   
  
"W-What happened?" said Harry, dazed. Ron just shrugged and shook his head.  
  
"Dunno...you just went crazy...kind of like when the dementors took over the train in our 3rd Year..." He murmured quietly. Both he and Hermione knew that Harry's worst fear were dementors, for they had such an effect on him. If someone else lived through watching their parents get killed by one of the most powerful dark wizards in the world, then dementors would most likely have an impact on them too.  
  
Hermione had finally regained herself, and pushed the rest of her books into her bag and zipped it up. She straightened herself up and her face began to relax.   
  
"Well then...I'll let you two change and I'll be back in a few," she said before sliding open the compartment door and shutting it hastily.   
  
The Express eventually slowed itself to a stop, ending the long ride to Hogwarts. The trio was relieved to get out of the cramped compartment and into the large and oversized castle. Ron was especially happy to get something to eat after waiting for so long. They gathered their things and headed out of the train, rushing across the way to find an empty horse carriage. Everyone knew by now that the horses are invisible to any whose eyes have not seen death. Harry was among one of the few who had, and of course that was not the greatest thing in the world. He did not want to see anyone die; he just did.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had shoved themselves into the first available carriage which was, luckily, unoccupied. When they had settled, the carriage began to move freely down the narrow path to the school. The ride was slightly bumpy, and not the most pleasant sitting, as the seats were not cushioned; just wooden benches attatched within the carriages. This made things even more uncomfortable as they moved along. And eventually, to the liking of each of them, they had finally stopped afront of the Hogwarts Grounds.  
  
Students filed out of each carriage and awaited further instructions to go inside the castle. And then they were all on their way to yet another exciting and surprising year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Of course, the adventures are just beginning... 


End file.
